What are some good things president Barack Obama has done?

What the fuck has Obama done so far?

I have always liked him.

@El_Cadejo Perfect link! One of them said “created more private sector jobs in 2010 than Bush’s presidency.” If that’s true, then it makes me wonder why people complain about him being responsible for unemployment.

@dxs Everything on that site has it’s sources right under the statement so with a bit of digging you can back everything up said on there.

Owned Hillary to bag the Democratic ticket in 08

The Affordable Care Act is lowering Federal health care spending. The ten year savings 2015–2024 are projected to be $1.3 trillion.

Congressional Budget Office

Presidents are always painted as good or evil by the opposing parties. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sometimes they just have to make decisions they know will be unpopular because it’s their job to do so. Aside from campaign finance reform, (I.E. removing corporate donations) I would like to see candidates publish ahead of time who they intend to fill their cabinet with, who their advisors will be etc… That’s what you are really voting for anyway not just whatever brand this person happens to be. I don’t really give a shit about the president I care about the whole executive branch and what they are up to.

Kept the crazy right wing nut jobs out of the White House.

@whitenoise Ditto!

@whitenoise GA.

I think you just need to give the political discussions a rest, @dxs. There’s nothing inarguable to be said about a second term President faced with the present challenges. What seeds did he not sow?

YEARS. We’re not talking about days or weeks, BUT YEARS.

He brought intelligence and thoughtful consideration back to the White House.

He was a good student and didn’t complain much when his grandmother woke him up early in the morning to review assignments he did the night before.

As US President….ended Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the military, got Bin Laden, ended wars, did his best regarding healthcare reform etc…

Thanks for the answers!
@ibstubro I figured people would just complain about him no matter what he did because of political labeling (see @whitenoise‘s response), so they sound really childish, especially the consumers who blindly buy into the Fox News people. But if I don’t talk about political things then how on earth am I going to be able to make a decision at elections? I feel like there’s so much to know.

This article by Paul Krugman in today’s NY Times answers your question brilliantly. It’s worth reading.

@dxs political discussion should be about the issues and not bullshit partisan he said – she said powerplays. Most reasonable people should not care what card you carry but what your stand is on actual issues

1) pushed through ACA
2) started pulling troops out of the Middle East
3) propped up our automotive industry – I wonder if they will return the favor?
4) propped up our finance industry – at least the CEOs thought it was good. Kept our economy from totally going down the toilet.
5) pushed through laws to reduce CO2 emissions – limits on CO2 generation, higher MPG goals.

To his uneducated kool aid drinkers he is great. To educated people who keep up with current events he is the most dangerous man we ever had in the White House.

With all the terrible things going on in the world. The mass massacre in Iraq going on, the release of five major Taliban from Gitmo, the V.A. scandal, illegals running over the border by the thousands and notice that I did not even mention Benghazi. I could go on and on but I know the majority of people here would never admit the flaws this man has.

What did he do this weekend? Play golf in California and attend fund raisers. Who the hell does that and can look at themselves in the mirror?

@dxs you stated that you posted this question to see all the people who would jump in to complain about obama. I hope you noticed that it is only ONE person and that is me.

@BeenThereSaidThat When did I state that I posted this question to see people complain? Read it closer, I was expecting the exactly the opposite!
Please do explain your opinions here or via PM, I’d be perfectly open to hearing them.
I only know a little about the whole VA thing, but maybe you could tell me more. Why was playing golf and attending fundraisers this weekend mirror-shaming? It was Father’s Day after all!
And I hate how people like Fox call the immigrants illegals. It sounds so insulting and demonizing. Calling them “illegals” strips them of their dignity.

I knew Bengazi would come up eventually. From the party educated via Faux News.

@BeenThereSaidThat no you ain’t the lonely ranger. This question was posted as a general question. So the poor moderators are having to remove anything really offensive to the asker. So answers like ‘he really lowered his golf handicap’ or ‘thousands of people now get to spend a lot of quality time at home’ because they are considered off topic or flame bait. If this were posted as a social question, this could have been a pretty fun question.

@dxs <sigh>

If crossing over the border into another country without permission is not legal, then I would assume that people who cross over a border without permission is not legal. Henceforth the term illegal. Gheesh.

no thanks, I won’t be sending any PM’s or discussing this topic. I have been around long enough to read the comments of true believers. People who have an argument for everything when it comes to this President. I can tell that your mind is solidly made up and I don’t leave myself wide open to an ambush. Been There Done That.

@BeenThereSaidThat “People who have an argument for everything when it comes to this President.” I

It’s true on both sides though, isn’t it? And I don’t argue any more for the same reason.

@BeenThereSaidThat My mind isn’t made up, and again, that’s why I’m asking this question! I’m young and still learning. I just asked for you to add your ideas in and I’ll form mine based on all of the sources I’ve been given. I was only expressing my current opinion on things—calling them “illegals” is a label, regardless of the actions they commit (like the absurd “liberal” and “conservative” labels). The way it looks, I’m in disagreement with Fox & “friends”. I understand that the president is a person like you and me and not some sort of deific figure, so I don’t expect him to be perfect. This is why I am skeptical of all of this hatred and criticism towards him, and I can clearly tell that on Fox it’s exaggerated.
But please inform me of your views and I’ll be open to them. Oh wait, I’m sorry: you’ve been there and done that. Yet you still come here to say a little bit and then back away. And apparently my mind is the one that’s made up…

A lot of people come over legally, so can be labeled immigrant, but should not be labeled illegal immigrant. The trick is figuring out which are legal and which are not.

I am just now finding this Q. You posted while I was sick and not participating.
I voted for Barack Obama. I am a non partisan voter. I choose who to back by individual qualities rather than party.
When GW ran, I was opposed to him immediately. When he won re election I was dumbfounded by the blindness of so many.
I did not vote Obama only because he is a democrat. There were a lot of men and women tossing their hats into the ring at the same time Obama surfaced. I followed debates, and weighed what each candidate stressed as their areas of highest concern.
Over his presidency, there have been times when I shook my head and went, “Tsk tsk tsk”. Mostly the man has impressed me. He has pulled together a good body of support in spite of rigorously engineered republican opposition. As previously mentioned, who a President chooses to advise and support him is crucial to their success. I think Obama has made some pretty good choices there.
One very important thing Obama has done has been not about what he did for our country directly, but what he has done for the office of President of the United States. He has restored an air of integrity to a position which has been bastardized by so many of his predecessors. No floozies, no drunken tangents, no spouse abuse, no paternity issues, no staring blankly into space when faced with crisis situations. He faces danger, opposition, and obstacles with dignity, calm resolute dedication, and a desire to be fair and final.
He has tackled a great many issues, and occassionally there will be some which even cause him to say, “Well, that probably should have been handled a little better.”
He is a very intelligent man, but he has the ability to speak in such a way that people with even marginal education levels can grasp what he’s trying to impart.
No matter who is in office there are those who will launch verbal attacks to discredit the one currently in office. What was the main complaint the first few weeks of Obama’s presidency?
“He still hasn’t completely quit smoking”, and, ” Dear gawd, his wife wore sleeveless to meet the Queen!”
Have you watched Farenheit 911? It says a lot about how previous international dealings were focused mostly to personal profit/benefit.
In comparison, I see Obama heavily focused on home, and issues directly facing the people who populate the country he was voted to care for.
In regards to the VA, as a veteran of the US Navy, I can say with firsthand knowledge that those issues existed well before Obama took office. I feel it is his willingness to deal with such situations which allowed those issues to gain public attention, at long last.
I don’t agree with Barack Obama 100%, but then, I don’t believe Michelle does either.
Just because I stronly opposed GW, and strongly support Obama does not mean the next presidential election I will be voting for a democrat. If Hillary runs, I will be seeking another option for sure. I think she has a lot of skill and experience, but I do not believe she has what is neccessary to run the most influencial nation on Earth.
Without a doubt, whoever I support MUST be someone who can keep their cool under pressure, but not because they are sociopath, such as at least one political powerfigure of the recent past.
A capacity for diplomatic relations is important.
Who they choose to seek advice from is crucial.
Always there is lots of hype. Watch closely when someone says they plan to tackle a particular situation. Do they support that with deep research and data with which they are familiar, or do they wave around a thick file which may or may not be blank inside, and expect you to be convinced without really detailing anything?
I am glad you want to make an informed decision. I have given you quite a lot of my own thoughts here, you asked. Don’t decide according to how someone else feels though. I wrote all of this so you could see where my head is on the subject. You have other input here also. Use it to get an understanding of what makes sense to you, not to follow or oppose someone due to how you feel about that individual. Savor the advice and passion from each person who will speak up, then look at what makes you feel the same way.
I wish you good luck in following events and people to make your choices.

I wish I could give you more lurve, Jonesn.

@Jonesn4burgers Thank you so much. GA!

Wow! Thankyou both. :-)

Yeah. REALLY dangerous

I would take the opposing side, those that don’t care for the Obama-care and many of the reforms. As to what “good” has he done, I can’t say. I don’t think in ‘good/bad right/wrong’ terms… they are objectively applied subjective judgments.
No one here seems to understand much of those that are complaining, at least it doesn’t appear to me so.
I looked through some of the first link provided, and many of the complaints are about those very things he did.
I’ll try to help you understand the base of those views you hear all the time, it has to do with taxation and economy, as well as responsibility and freedom.
The first thing right wing conservatives (or whatever they’re called) consider is that every institution, new grant, new department, and benefits (often lumped under welfare concept) require money, and that money comes from tax payers, big businesses, small businesses, and individuals. Individuals pay the brunt of it since all businesses (large and small) MUST pass the toll onto their consumers. I ‘ll refrain from explaining all the economics involved.
They then take into account that only working people pay taxes. It’s important to understand that it’s from private companies’ and individuals’ taxes that all positions in the government are paid from (i.e. you pay the salaries of all federal employees. You also pay for all the doctors, drugs, and administration provided free of charge to those that do not work. All grants are paid from monies collected in taxes.
The conservatives have a different set of values than those of whatever the opposing group has (liberals?). That is to say, a liberal may see a human life, no matter the circumstances, deserving tax payers to pay for their medical needs, if such monies are necessary. Conservatives do not consider a person who has no job nor means to support them self having children they cannot feed nor provide medical care for at their expense. It’s the same argument from “help the starving Africans” foundations from when I was growing up. And to those people, conservatives offered to buy condoms… same mindset. It is the extreme display of irresponsibility to chance the birth of a child when you know that you can’t even feed yourself. And sending money supports that irresponsible behavior… but at least it was optional; the conservatives could simply decline.
When our government legislates an act to do the same thing, there is no choice, it is not charity. I have to financially support a cause I disagree with, hence, I complain (not necessarily me personally, just offering you what those people you hear from are thinking). I am being forced to pay higher prices and taxes (and increase inflation in my country) to support a child the parents should never have had until they acquired the means to support themselves and the child. Many conservatives are holding others to their own standards of responsibility (i.e. they themselves ensured they did not have children until they could afford it, and if a mistake did occur, they did everything necessary to ensure the child had what they needed.
Now go look through those great accomplishments, and ask the same question for each one, where does the funding (money) come from for this wondrous endeavor? The government collects only so much money per annum. If they are on budget (taxes they take in equal all the things they have to pay for), then where are they going to get more money to pay for the new grants they want to give for spinal research that directly benefits a very small portion of the American population? The only place they can, tax payers.
I once heard a government employee and someone living on grants claim that they pay taxes too. To a conservative, that’s the utmost absurdity… sure at the end of the year they fill out their forms and the government takes some portion of their income, but that income was given them by the government (tax payers). Paying taxes out of money provided by others taxes does not constitute paying taxes to conservatives.
If you’d like an in-depth example of how it all works (which is the in-depth understanding that conservatives base their complaints on) let me know.
In simplest terms, they do not want to pay more taxes or fees (that was the big argument over whether the Obama-care was constitutionally valid or not… it went to the supreme court) to support things they don’t fundamentally support. Those that do want them supported voted him in, and apparently enough of congress as well, to get their legislation through.
another book… sorry. I’ll refrain from explaining what a ‘bleeding heart liberal’ is for length sake.

He prevented Sarah Palin from being VP.
Something conservatives, moderates and liberals can unite behind.